Relational autonomy
By exploring the theories that underpin our participants’ experiences, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how these frameworks apply in practical settings.
Summary
- Modern views see autonomy as a process: a person is autonomous if they make choices based on careful reflection and reasons that truly align with their values.
- Some feminist and care-ethics thinkers criticise traditional ideas of autonomy for focusing too much on independence and logic, ignoring the role of relationships, care, and dependence on others.
- Feminist theorists argue that dependence isn’t a barrier to autonomy but a natural part of life. The idea of relational autonomy emphasises that people are deeply connected to others, and these relationships help shape their ability to make choices.
- Relational autonomy also considers how social inequalities and power imbalances can limit a person’s ability to make independent decisions, making it more realistic about the challenges people face.
Autonomy is a highly valued ideal in modern societies. It is a philosophically highly complex notion though, with many different interpretations. The most common understanding of autonomy perceives it as a capacity for self-government or self-rule. Classical philosophical interpretations of autonomy, such as the view of Kant, emphasise the capacity of thinking for yourself and making an independent moral judgment based on your personal inner convictions rather than being led by convention or tradition. Contemporary interpretations often view autonomy in procedural terms: agents are considered autonomous if their actions and choices are motivated by properly reflected and authentically appropriated reasons. Autonomous persons should be able to reflect on their own desires and choose to act based on those motivations closest to their self-defined values and reasons.
These dominant interpretations of autonomy have been criticised from a feminist, care-ethical point of view because they place too much emphasis on independence and rational choice, thereby implicitly downplaying and devaluing relationships of dependency and care. According to feminist thinkers, these relationships are not opposed to autonomy but rather form the necessary background of human lives. Theorists of what has been called relational autonomy therefore propose we should be more aware of the many ways in which people are socially embedded and dependent on each other. The relational view of autonomy emphasises that people are not independent and self-sufficient, but rather socially embedded creatures whose relationships and responsibilities make them fundamentally interdependent. Our inescapable social embedding does not, however, pose a problem for our autonomy, as the classical views would say. On the contrary, it is the way we learn to position ourselves towards our socialisation that enables us to become autonomous agents in the first place. Because of its emphasis on socialisation and interdependence, relational autonomy views are also very sensitive to how social inequalities and power differences can impact peoples opportunities to develop and exercise their capacity for autonomy.
Further reading
- Mackenzie, C. & Stoljar, N. (eds). (2000). Relational autonomy. Feminist perspectives on autonomy, agency and the social self. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.